Trump to host China's Xi Jinping at his Mar-a-Lago club

Florida resort will provide backdrop for first meeting of superpower leaders since Trump became US president.

Donald Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping are due to meet for the first time since the former became US presidentReuters

Chinese leader Xi Jinping will join US President Donald Trump at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida for a series of meetings on economic and security issues.

The meetings, provisionally scheduled to take place on 6 and 7 April, will see the heads of the world's two global superpowers meet for the first time in Trump's relatively new presidency, according to news outlet Axios. Golf is, so far, not on the schedule.

News of the meeting comes as Secretary of State Rex Tillerson prepares to head out tomorrow (14 March) on a journey to east Asia with visits to Japan, South Korea and China to reaffirm American economic and security commitments. Tensions in the region have been high as North Korea has launched a series of ballistic missile tests aimed at its neighbours in recent weeks.

China has also been angered over America's deployment of a missile defence system in South Korea last week and warned of a new arms race.

Relations between China and the US have been shaken since the election of Trump after he called the "One China" policy into question and took a call from Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen in December. China considers the island nation to be part of its territory.

Trump recognised the "One China" policy, which reinforces the belief that there is only one Chinese state despite there being two governments, in early February during a call with Jinping. Last week, on 6 March, China granted preliminary approval for 38 trademarks of the Trump brandname in China, following on from a years-long court case.

The Trump administration is looking for China's help to reduce North Korean aggression to its neighbours, and Trump is also likely to discuss trade between the two nations, which he has often criticised as unfair and unbalanced. He has accused China of manipulating its currency to allow its goods to outsell American made products.